appropriate technology

Simple or small-scale machinery and tools that, because they are cheap and easy to produce and maintain, may be of most use in the developing world; for example, hand ploughs and simple looms. This equipment may be used to supplement local crafts and traditional skills to encourage small-scale industrialization.

Many countries suffer from poor infrastructure and lack of capital (equipment and money) but have the large supplies of labour needed for this level of technology. The use of appropriate technology was one of the recommendations of the Brandt Commission in its report North–South: A Programme for Survival (1980).